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295.6. Workplace Empowerment as a Predictor of Nurse Burnout and Mental Health inCanadian Health Care SettingsHeather K. Spence Laschinger , University of Western Ontario (hkl@uwo.ca)Joan Finegan, University of Western OntarioJudity Shamian, University of Western OntarioPiotr Wilk, University of Western OntarioNurses have been hit hard by health care restructuring initiatives in Canada. There is evidence to suggestthat rather than increase productivity, these changes have resulted in increased work stress among nurses,greater risk for medical error, patient dissatisfaction and possibly litigation. It is critical to find ways to helpnurses do their work more effectively to avoid endangering patient care. Employee empowerment has beensuggested as a strategy to foster improved performance and lower job stress. Kanter’s (1993) Theory ofOrganizational Empowerment provides a framework for investigating the role of empowering workconditions on nurses’ mental health. This study tested a model linking the effects of empowerment at onepoint in time to nurses’ reports of burnout and mental health three years later.A longitudinal design was used to test the model in a random sample of 192 Canadian staff nurses.Measures of structural and psychological empowerment and mental health and burnout were mailed to arandom sample of registered nurses (Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II: PsychologicalEmpowerment Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey.Nurses in this study (44%) reported high levels of emotional exhaustion according Maslach’s norms,suggesting they were at risk for severe burnout. Structural equation modelling analyses revealed a good fitof the data to the hypothesized model (Chi-square=198.68, df=85, IFI=.90, CFI=.90, RMSEA=.08).Perceptions of structural empowerment had a significant direct effect on psychological empowerment atTime 1 (.435), which in turn, had a significant effect (-.283) on perceptions of emotional exhaustion atTime 2 (3 years later).Nurses’ perceived access to workplace empowerment structures resulted in increased psychologicalempowerment at Time 1 and these feelings of empowerment were predictive of lower burnout levels atTime 2. These results strengthen those of previous cross-sectional research linking empowerment toburnout among nurses and suggest that fostering environments that enhance perceptions of empowermentcan be an effective way of preventing burnout and improve mental health among nurses. The resultsprovide insight for managers, nurses and policy makers regarding the applicability of Kanter’s workempowerment theory in creating work environments that reduce the likelihood of job stress and poormental health among nurses.